46th of Winter, 517 AV
There were certain things, Satevis thought, that should have been easy. He understood that medicine was an inherently difficult subject. If it were not difficult, more people would be master surgeons and doctors, and if it were not difficult, it wouuld not be that fascinating to him as a subject. But even in a difficult field, there were some things that were simple. Wounds needed to be clean, cold water needed to be applied to burns. A simple break or a sprain could be treated with a splint. A simple splint was, in theory, nothing more than a rigid object affixed to the injured limb and held in place with bandages and twine.
In theory.
"Not too tight," Jansen warned. "You don't want to cut off circulation."
Satevis nodded in apology, loosening the bindings. He didn't waste the energy it would require to respond, concentrating on his work. At the moment, he was currently trying to manage wrapping a length of twine around the two, thin pieces of bamboo that he had placed on both sides of an arm, the arm in question belonging to Jansen Alavarth himself. It wasn't actually broken, which was a mercy. Satevis had a feeling that if it had been, he would have caused more pain right now than the splint could ease.
The problem was there being too many things to hold onto. Jansen was a patient teacher, though, and Satevis figured out a trick. If he rested the arm on the examination table, and started from the elbow outward, he could hold the bamboo pieces where they were needed and use the twine to secure them. He tried to keep the bindings secure but not overly tight, the way Jansen indicated.
"You could go a little tighter," Jansen said. "You don't want the splint to fall off. That would defeat the purpose. But as soon as you see the bindings starting to dig into the skin, or the skin start to lose color around the bindings..." He pressed down on his own arm with a finger, and Satevis watched as the skin around the area went from a paler blue to its normal shade of blue again, "...you've gone too far."
"It seems like that would be hard to see if there were clothes in the way," Satevis pointed out. Not that that tended to be a problem in Syka, where people generally seemed determined to wear as few clothes as possible.
Jansen nodded, offering Satevis a smile. "In which case, how do you think you'd be able to tell if it's too tight?"
"I don't know," Satevis admitted, although he did consider the problem. "I could tug on the bindings and make sure they aren't too taut."
"You could," Jansen said, "Or you could ask them. Bedside manner is just as important as everything else, you know."
Satevis was embarrassed to admit that the thought had not occurred to him. He looked away, feeling warmth rise to his face. "...Is this too tight?" he asked.
"No," said Jansen. "This is fine. Now, you can start wrapping it with bandages, to keep the splint protected. In a moment, I'll show you how to make a sling--"
The ground began to shake beneath their feet. Jansen did not finish the sentence.
There were certain things, Satevis thought, that should have been easy. He understood that medicine was an inherently difficult subject. If it were not difficult, more people would be master surgeons and doctors, and if it were not difficult, it wouuld not be that fascinating to him as a subject. But even in a difficult field, there were some things that were simple. Wounds needed to be clean, cold water needed to be applied to burns. A simple break or a sprain could be treated with a splint. A simple splint was, in theory, nothing more than a rigid object affixed to the injured limb and held in place with bandages and twine.
In theory.
"Not too tight," Jansen warned. "You don't want to cut off circulation."
Satevis nodded in apology, loosening the bindings. He didn't waste the energy it would require to respond, concentrating on his work. At the moment, he was currently trying to manage wrapping a length of twine around the two, thin pieces of bamboo that he had placed on both sides of an arm, the arm in question belonging to Jansen Alavarth himself. It wasn't actually broken, which was a mercy. Satevis had a feeling that if it had been, he would have caused more pain right now than the splint could ease.
The problem was there being too many things to hold onto. Jansen was a patient teacher, though, and Satevis figured out a trick. If he rested the arm on the examination table, and started from the elbow outward, he could hold the bamboo pieces where they were needed and use the twine to secure them. He tried to keep the bindings secure but not overly tight, the way Jansen indicated.
"You could go a little tighter," Jansen said. "You don't want the splint to fall off. That would defeat the purpose. But as soon as you see the bindings starting to dig into the skin, or the skin start to lose color around the bindings..." He pressed down on his own arm with a finger, and Satevis watched as the skin around the area went from a paler blue to its normal shade of blue again, "...you've gone too far."
"It seems like that would be hard to see if there were clothes in the way," Satevis pointed out. Not that that tended to be a problem in Syka, where people generally seemed determined to wear as few clothes as possible.
Jansen nodded, offering Satevis a smile. "In which case, how do you think you'd be able to tell if it's too tight?"
"I don't know," Satevis admitted, although he did consider the problem. "I could tug on the bindings and make sure they aren't too taut."
"You could," Jansen said, "Or you could ask them. Bedside manner is just as important as everything else, you know."
Satevis was embarrassed to admit that the thought had not occurred to him. He looked away, feeling warmth rise to his face. "...Is this too tight?" he asked.
"No," said Jansen. "This is fine. Now, you can start wrapping it with bandages, to keep the splint protected. In a moment, I'll show you how to make a sling--"
The ground began to shake beneath their feet. Jansen did not finish the sentence.
